I've gone to the dark side.

No not the Yankees you jackass....I'm refereeing inline hockey now.

I make my debut tomorrow night (all 4 games) and I'm actually a bit nervous. Not so much because I don't think I can do it, but rather I want to be good at it and respected for being good at it. That is probably asking way too much. I do think that one or two refs in particular have been HORRIBLE. And the refs do seem to make a lot of mistakes. Hopefully I won't be "that" ref.

I'm not exactly a saint, I have abused a ref here or there in my career. And I do get my share of penalties, and I do dive once in a while - so I guess I am the perfect ref. It will be interesting and I'm freaking out just thinking about it. I went to Sports Authority and bought a whistle and ref jersey - so I guess I have to do it now. Damn do I hate refs.

Tuesday leagues are the worst too - because these are the guys who can't skate at all and they hang all over each other. Half the time you can't tell if it is a penalty or just too newbs hugging each other. This should be quite a treat for a first time. Luckily I'm refereeing with another guy who I think is a very decent ref. That should take much of the pressure off me.

I wonder what it will be like to not want to go after the puck, and can I stay out of the way? I'm guessing I wear a cup (just in case), but do I wear shins? So many questions.Plus, I don't remember all those obscure rules like if a team has only 4 guys and there is a matching penalty, it is ok to to skate 4 on 3 and consider it full strength. So weird. Plus, I don't want guys screaming at me if I call a face off at the wrong dot or if I miss a tip that goes out of play and I want to face off on the wrong dot. Well, whatever. I've played more games than most of these guys on Tuesday nights have watched!

I just talked to Chris - a goalie buddy of mine, and he said something pretty cool - he said at least he knows the game will be called fairly. That means a lot. Of course I play on Wednesday nights - so that league is out. And, I've played on multiple teams on Thursday nights too - and technically I am subbing on Thursday nights too - so I'm not sure I can ref then either. Conflict-o-interest!

Damn, I need to go fishing. I have no clue what I am doing this weekend, and I'm bored. Went to Old Chicago last night and had a decent meal. Avi turned into a little wise guy last night at the restaurant, probably because she hadn't taken a long nap. She was kind fo funny - she knew she was pushing my buttons and loving it. Kids.